So you’ve survived for five days stranded at sea aboard the Carnival Triumph. The ship had no working toilets, sewage dripped from walls, and the whole place smelled “like a hot port-o-potty.” Here’s $500 for your troubles.

Last week, after the Triumph was finally tugged into Alabama and passengers kissed solid ground in relief, Carnival announced that all passengers on the ship—which was hit with a fire in an engine room and left without power in the Gulf of Mexico—would receive some compensation. The offer included a full refund for the cruise and travel expenses, reimbursement for nearly everything they spent on board the ship, a credit good toward a future cruise, plus a check for $500.

To some, the offer didn’t exactly seem generous. “I would have expected more really,” said travel expert George Hobica, who runs the deal-finding site AirfareWatchdog.com. “I think giving them their money back and $500 is pretty cheap.”

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of CruiseCritic.com, had basically the same reaction. “What these people went through was worth more than $500,” she said. “It’s a little bit insulting. It’s almost as if Carnival would have been better off offering nothing than to go so low.”

So where did Carnival come up with the $500 figure to begin with? The cruise line didn’t explain. In situations involving refunds and compensation for travelers, there usually isn’t much explanation other than that the policies and dollar figures somehow seem about right. “It’s all about PR,” said Brown. “This was probably determined by the marketing department more than anybody.”

To minimize the public-relations damage, to salvage some sort of goodwill with affected customers, and also to cut off lawsuits before they are filed, travel operators are known to offer compensation during the worst situations. Concordia passengers were offered around $15,000, on top of a refund and travel expenses.

At the time of the offer, a lawyer representing the cruise line told the Associated Press that there were big upsides for passengers who accepted the payment: “The big advantage that they have is an immediate response, no legal expenses, and they can put this whole thing behind them.”

Funny: The cruise lines involved in these disasters also want to avoid legal expenses and put the whole thing behind them.

But about the payouts: Where do the figures come from? When vacations are ruined, compensation paid to travelers can run the gamut, from bupkis to tens of thousands of dollars. Are the amounts purely at the discretion of some travel company executives?

Well, under certain circumstances, airlines and cruise lines are obligated by law to compensate customers whose trips have been adversely affected. For instance, Department of Transportation regulations require airlines flying within the U.S. to compensate passengers who are denied boarding because a flight is oversold. If the airline gets such a passenger on another flight that lands within one to four hours of the originally scheduled arrival time, the carrier pays the delayed traveler 200% of the original one-way fare, up to $650. If the traveler is delayed by four hours or more, the compensation goes up to 400%, and a maximum of $1,300. On the other hand, if the airline gets such a passenger onto another flight that lands within one hour of the original arrival time, no compensation is required at all.

The contract cruise passengers agree to stipulates specific instances when compensation will be provided by the cruise line. The Princess Cruise Line Passage Contract, for instance, lists scenarios such as this:

If Carrier cancels the Cruise before it has started, it shall refund the Cruise Fare (less any air or accommodation charges incurred).

Well, you’d hope that if the cruise is cancelled, refunds would be in order. For the most part, however, the contracts travelers unknowingly sign off on are loaded with language that absolves cruise lines and carriers of responsibility for all sorts of delays, changes, and general disappointments. Here’s one passage from the contract for Princess Cruises (the “Carrier” mentioned in legalese below):

You shall have no claim against Carrier, and Carrier shall not be liable for damages or a refund of the Cruise fare, any portion thereof, or other refund, payment, compensation or credit of any kind; nor for hotel or meal charges, travel expenses or other loss, delay, inconvenience, disappointment or expense whatsoever, which shall be the Passenger’s responsibility, whenever the cancellation or change was beyond Carrier’s exclusive control.

For flights within the U.S., the DOT requires airlines to compensate passengers whose checked baggage is lost, delayed, damaged, or stolen, to the tune of up to $3,300. Yet most passengers never get anywhere near that amount, partially because airlines state that they’re not liable for all sorts of things when they’re placed in checked luggage. The Hawaiian Airlines site stipulates that the carrier is not responsible for an enormously long list of goods “including but not limited to items” such as:

And on and on. The point is this: For the most part, airlines and cruises are not obligated by law to compensate customers when things go badly on a trip.

If a domestic flight is delayed or cancelled, the airline isn’t required to put passengers up in hotels or provide food or other amenities. You’ve probably heard about cruise passengers coming down with Norovirus on ships, but, as a CruiseCritic post stated plainly, “Cruise lines are not required to compensate guests who fall ill on a voyage.”

Nonetheless, airlines often do offer passengers hotels, or at least bottled water and snacks, when flights are delayed or cancelled. Cruise lines often do offer customers refunds, vouchers or discounts on future cruises, airline and hotel reimbursements, or other forms of compensation when a cruise itinerary is changed or half the ship’s passengers are hit with a virus.

Why do they do so, then, when they’re not required? As mentioned above, it’s in their business interests to do so. “Carnival isn’t required to do anything,” said consumer travel advocate Christopher Elliott. “It appears to be acting only because of the intense media scrutiny.” Cruise lines and airlines take action because they want to minimize the damage and avoid lawsuits, with the idea that hopefully not too far in the future the traveling public will forget the whole thing happened.

Considering the horrendous conditions aboard the Triumph—rotting food, backed-up toilets, awful smells all around—this is one cruise industry black eye that’s likely to be remembered for a while. By most accounts, the staff aboard the Triumph maintained their professionalism throughout the ordeal and tried to help passengers as best they could. “The crew was always smiling,” one passenger said, according to USA Today. “They need a huge raise.”

Unfortunately for Carnival, and the cruise industry as a whole, this same passenger also had this to say after finally getting off the ship: “This is my first and last cruise.”

As for travelers who do keep on taking cruises, what happens if and when something like this happens again? Every situation is different. There’s no requirement for cruise lines to offer special compensation, and there’s no telling what each cruise line would do in any particular scenario. “No precedent has been set,” said CruiseCritic’s Brown. “The next time a cruise has a problem, passengers should not be expecting to get $500.”

From experience I can say that Carnival Cruise lines is a sub-standard cruise. This should be evident since they are less costly than other cruise lines. Remember you get what you pay for. I was physically assulted by a drunk passenger on a Carnival Cruise. Unprovoked, this woman grabbed my hair and was yelling drunken slurs at me. Like anyone else would, I defended myself by punching her in her face and knocking her on the ground. My reward for protecting myself? I was banned from Carnival Cruise lines for defending myself against a passenger they served too much alcohol. WTF? Well, threaten me with a good time Carnival because I don't want to go on a poop cruise anyway. Turds.

I like to think that they try to do better next time, like having a back up generator on board!

Humans being exposed to sewage happens all the time around the globe. If your immune system is not compromised, then your are unlikely to have an issue. Any health issue resulting from this incident is likely to be far less than a cruise ship where half the people have the norovirus.

also, in all the talk about compensation i haven't heard anyone mention time lost from work...i know my employer wouldn't pay me for time missed because i was stuck somewhere and couldn't get home to come back to work on time....and has anyone talked about medical bills for anyone who got sick after they got home from what they were exposed to?

i work for a credit card call center....and we had someone from the cruise call in to dispute a charge on their card....carnival charged them for 13 nights!!!....billing error???...not sure...but interesting!

I agree this article is very misleading and an attempt to grab attention. Would expect better journalism than this from Time Magazine. There were over 3,000 people on board this ship. What carnival is reimbursing in cash and freebies is going to cost them millions of dollars, not to mention bad publicity and lost future sales. I took a weekend booze cruise on carnival once and you definitely don't get what you don't pay for. It is the people who spent their welfare check to take this cruise that are mad because they aren't getting a bigger free hand-out.

The real question; why does the US allow use of its ports by cheaply and badly designed and built floating hotel barges? These floating disasters waiting to happen have lots of fancy recreational areas and stores, but one little thing goes wrong in an engineering space and propulsion and 'hotel' power is lost to the whole ship. There is little to no backup or redundancy. One electrical system in one room together with generators and propulsion motors. In contrast, Carnival's Queen Mary 2 (yes, Cunard is part of Carnival) had an onboard electrical explosion in 2010 was actually built a lot better. It briefly lost power, the fire was put out, the damaged equipment bypassed, and the ship got back underway. But Triumph wasn't so lucky - the fire apparently wiped out most of the electrical system, propulsion system, etc. - which were mainly in just one room to save money.

BTW, the long retired SS United States (tied up in Philly) had 2 completely independent engine rooms - if one was completely destroyed the ship could have still kept underway. It was extremely fire resistant and built for safety and speed. The designer (W F Gibbs) had learned lots of lessons from Titanic and other ship disasters. It seems like Carnival's designers have learned nothing from the past.

This is so insulting. Carnival needs to either allow itself to go bankrupt immediately or stand up to the plate. They did not deliver what people paid for at all. At least free transportation home, $1000 per person, a free cruise, with free air transport for the compensation cruise. Who would book with Carnival? Not only do they provide a nightmare, they refuse to refund customers. I do not know anyone who would agree to risk a cruise with this company.

I think that a complete refund, including refund of all expenses except casino and gift shop, plus a free cruise, plus free transportation home PLUS $500 is more than compensation. This country is so sue happy. Everybody always wants something for nothing. I guess these people won't be happy until they bankrupt Carnival. Yes they were inconvenienced. Yes there was raw sewage. But NOBODY was expected to stay down in the rooms on the lower decks. They had TWO food lines, so that crap about 4 hours waiting for food was a joke. Come on, people, get real!

Lets see 5 days = $500. Well, from 1500 - 1900 millions of African slaves were stuffed in the bottom of sweltering ships and sailed on the seas for MONTHS at a time in horrid, grossly inhumane conditions...with millions dying and the survivors doomed to the mental and physical torture of slavery, sharecropping, and Jim Crow.

Two questions, Why didn't African Americans get reparations and why can't they ask for reparations now?

Five days on a ship and the mostly white customers are DEMANDING and SUING for mental anguish.

$500 enough? No. I put myself in that situation, and I have to consier my time. Add to that it was supposed to be a vacation or getaway, saomething for pleasure, and it was not. Anyone would have said the cruise did not meet his/her expectations because of the trauma and uncomfortable to unsantiary conditions they had to endure. That amount of money is a starter.

Um, read what you wrote in your own article, they are getting more than $500. They are getting the $500 cash, a refun of their cruise plus anything they spent onboard excluding alcohol I believe I read elsewhere, as well as a credit for another cruise at a later time. I am sure it was horrible, but keep in mind, the media does sensationalize things and blow things out of proportion for ratings, we know this to be true. Also, please keep in mind....what do you want the crew to do when there is very limited electricity?? Yes, there were some horrible conditions, but from what I have read in various locations, the concensus is that the majority of the crew did their very best in a crappy situation, and they were having to live in the same conditions as the passengers....regardless of the fact that they were getting paid to do so...

I say that nobody who didn't experience the event can really answer, but the settlement offered seems reasonable to me. I have heard of air passenger events stranded on tarmacs for hours and hours that are more frightful to me than this. To me, one hour being miserable on an airplane translates to at least half a day on a cruise ship.

$500 not enough? Why? Given it was only a 4-day cruise that departed the 7th, I'm sure they already had their time at port before this fire, so they were on their way back. They shouldn't get anything.

I'll reserve judgement, because I wasn't there. Knowing, though, how travel horror stories tend to be blown way out of proportion (it says a lot about how little today's society is unable to deal with any inconvenience), I'd probably be quite happy with the $500 and refunds and been done with it.

Only thing I may push for in addition was lost wages, if extra days off of work would have been required.

Carnival is and always has been bottom of the barrel for cruise lines. When shopping for cruises, pay more and go with lines like Celebrity, Crystal, orCunard Line.. Those are top notch lines. Anything else is hit and miss, including RCI or NCL. IMO, Carnival should be shut down and all ships thoroughly inspected with frequent audits to make sure they stay compliant. Be wise, just stay clear of Carnival in the first place. You really get what you pay for when booking for cruises. If you want to minimize a bad experience and the feeling of being ripped off, then go with a premium line that will cost a great deal more like the ones listed above. Premium lines have built in quality control and don't try to cut corners to make a profit. Premium lines make money on every cruise. They aren't struggling and don't have to. They just make sure they keep up a higher standard of service and they do.

They would have surely all been dead if they would have been out there for 2 months and hit 3 icebergs along the way. I could've died on the way to work today if I left early or left late. My point is that a murder or death is pretty hard to predict

Yes, they are receiving a future free cruise and a free ride home after this accident. But I believe they should receive more in compensation due to the fact that these families spent their hard earned money to take this cruise (witch they never finished mind you.) If they would have spent another 3 days to a week longer out there, their would have possibly been a death. Their would have possibly have been murder!

No one pays for entertainment (at this price) just to have it piss away.

Wow people are greedy. Get over it with the refund of the disaster cruise plus 500 plus travel home expenses and another free cruise. I'm not good with numbers but thats a good doubling of money for 5 days of living like they do on over half the world. Get over it. Sell the tickets on Craigslist and drive to a nice place for a vacation. DONE

Misleading title its 500 dollars plus refund of charge for the trip plus trip home Only if it caused someone to miss daily life at home not employment fair for the people that lost work is pay the company that lost the employement day one days pay for each day lost to that business if the normal day is 9 hours or 5 hours or if he is pure commsission employee base on an average day in his normal sales record for 6 months prior. this would be fair for the actual loss to the passenger and his employer that lost services for that period of time.

This article is pandering fluff. Entitlement culture at it's finest, and the "journalist" is just hamming it up, pushing that line.

It was an accident. No lives were in danger. You get refunded for *everything*, free bus and airfare, a free cruise voucher, and then $500 per passenger on top of that? Take it and move on with your freaking life.

YES, the Costa Concordia passengers got $15,000... but that ship actually sunk, people died, there was reckless endangerment involved, and it was also a luxury cruise line.

to me the biggest issue is that the crusies lines do not have to abid by US rules. They ships are registered in foregin ports who do not have the same regulations because they can be bought. I think the law should change if you pick up american passengers at a US port than they , need to abid by US maritime law not international law. The crusie industry know this so even though they have bad reviews or something as drastic as this, they olny way to get back at the company is not crusie as well as do ot let them pick up passengers at US ports.

I like to think that they try to do better next time, like having a back up generator on board!

Humans being exposed to sewage happens all the time around the globe. If your immune system is not compromised, then your are unlikely to have an issue. Any health issue resulting from this incident is likely to be far less than a cruise ship where half the people have the norovirus.

Carnival Cruise lines owns most of the cruise lines around the world.In case most of the people do not realize out there is that this means that they have very DEEP POCKETS.To think that a bunch of greedy lawyers have not seen major dollar signs means you have a hood over your head.These greedy lawyers are not going to be there for the passengers,but themselves.They already know that if a suit is brought against Carnival then Carnival will most likely settle out of court and this gives a win to the lawyers.The passengers will end up with little n more than they were to receive in the first place.

It is as it was stated in the article that the people should have read the terms and conditions.If they would have they would see that there is actually no compensation owed to them.Carnival is basically doing this to appease people.This was an accident that could be termed as terrible,but not done purposely.All items that were repaired were inspected and passed an inspection.This was not like the Concordia where as it was human error that caused the accident,thus carnival did offer more.There is a difference between an accident and an accident caused by human error.If this does go to court hen I believe a judge or jury will be able to tell the difference and thus make a judgment accordingly.

First of all, no one can predict an engine fire. If you want to avoid disaster, wrap yourself in pillows and stay in a padded room. Second, it kills me how entitled people are here in this country. Asking for more... No one was hurt. Exposure to sewage? Awe, poor babies... Try living in a third world country with no aide.

Cruise ships are floating toxic polluters, dumping feces and waste in the ocean the moment they cross into international waters. I guess all the passengers got a little sample of what that ship dumps on a daily basis.

$500 not enough? Theres so much more to this story than the inconvenience of the passengers.

@DeniseHancockAre you Fing kidding me? I was on that cruise. TWO food lines serving 4000 people is not a fun thing to experience. And a 4 hour line for food was most definitely a REAL thing that happened every single day of that 5 day nightmare. I'm not worried about your opinion on the compensation, but I DO NOT appreciate you trying to say that the stuff that happened on that ship was a joke. F U.

@Ms_Rational That's right, tie everything to race. These people were living among raw sewage in sweltering conditions while waiting hours for food, so they obviously should've been grateful that they weren't black in the 18th century. They should have been jumping for joy with smiles on their faces. It's losers like you that actually hinder racial harmony because you always want to emphasize racial differences and continue to compartmentalize.

Funny how you are accusing white people of "DEMANDING and SUING" for mental anguish when that is exactly what you want with reparations. You're such a hypocrite. If you were on that cruise, I doubt you would've been thinking about those poor slaves - no, you would have been wallowing in your own misery just like everyone else. Again, hypocrite. You, as a person, are owed nothing. Read me? Nothing. In fact, the progress we've made as a society ARE THE REPARATIONS for which you ask. An African American is running the country, and I am happy for that. We have a long way to go, but at least it's not the 18th century anymore. Why don't you try to embrace what progress has been made instead of living the dreadful past? And get over yourself... you are not special.

@Ms_Rational You people always live in the past and feel that because of what happened in the past you deserve everything. When I was in the union (IBEW) as a Hispanic, always received the complaints from Blacks and Hispanics, always complaining about foreman abusing them and picking on them because of their race. Guess what? 9 out 10, these guys were their laziest employees in their crews and they received what they deserved. Or tell me that being late to work (twice a week) and being absent without excuse is acceptable, and if you get a reprimand is because of your race? SOMETHING ELSE, I AM A PROUD AMERICAN, I DON'T HAVE TO CALL MYSELF AFRO-AMERICAN OR CHINESE-AMERICAN OR MEXICAN-AMERICAN, I'M EITHER AMERICAN OR I'M SOMETHING ELSE.

Those peoples that were in that cruise deserves that and more, they went in a vacation that ended up being a nightmare and deserved to be treated like human beings. Carnival is a huge company, they could have evacuated them earlier. I work on ships and believe me, they could have reacted to the situation in a much better way.

@Ms_RationalAfrican Americans should be HAPPY that slavery happened. They should be THANKING THE USA FOR IT! If salvery did not happen, history would have been very different. Their great-grandparents would never have met the way they did and therefore never had sex and gave birth to their grandparents. Their non-existant grandparents would never have had their parents, and then they would have never been born at all! The USA already gave reparations to the slaves who were alive back at the time of the Civil War. Millions of White men and women GAVE THEIR LIVES to free the slaves!

This is what irks me for the passengers. Some of them perhaps could have afforded better, but most could not. This was a honeymoon for at least one couple I heard about, and a once-in-a-lifetime event for others. Cruise lines are expensive to operate, but they make big money. The people at the top make big money, so maybe they need to forgo a huge bonus or big annual raise.

You do know they completed three days of their cruise just fine....and got a refund for that an anything else they sent money on, except in the casino. Then they get $500 and another free trip at another time.

AS i have stated since they are registred in a forgein ports they do not abid by US Maratime law they abid by international law . Second they should have gotten the passengers off the boat instead of waiting for the ship to be towed in. We as people need to change the ways crusies are doing things to protect them in any situation. If they are going to pick up US passenger than they need to abid by US maratime law.

@JasonBodenheimer Really? And what about the week off from work that many of these people work hard to get each year? Carnival passengers are those that can normally afford a trip like this once in a decade. It's a discount cruise. Entitled? Those people living in 3rd world countries don't have to wade through RAW sewage. Not arrogance fool. Simple common decency. They should receive compensation for the time lost. Most families can hardly go on a vacation a year. Time off from work is hard earned. You are the arrogant one here for NOT being in their situation and making judgement. Nice.

@Fairfax356@Ms_Rational A) The Civil War wasn't about slavery B) Plenty of Black Americans fought in that war and were treated like second rate citizens while doing so. Know your history before you come and comment and try to tell someone to be happy about being a second class citizen in this society.

Your point is taken that some people can only afford to go on a trip once a year. For that I'm sorry and hope there is a way to provide them with another opportunity to have a vacation.

Second, yes, there are people who wade through sewage and they didn't sign up for it either, but they aren't being compensated and no one is providing them with a vacation.

My point is that this goes way deeper than a huge corporation making millions of dollars and people being inconvenienced by an unexpected failure on a cruise ship. $hiT happens. My point is, these boats and these businesses are raping the ocean. First work countries are riding these vessels for vacation... Again I know they worked hard each year for a break, I can appreciate that. I don't get a vacation, a pension, retirement...

The underlying issue is: fate would have it that this industry is showing up in the media quite frequently. Maybe a bigger discussion should be the waste and pollution they spew out into the water. Its kind of a metaphor... Gaia has a way of bringing consciousness to humanity. This may be one of them. Oh the irony... Passengers are dumped with the very sewage they create and the very pollution they perpetuate by purchasing a cruise and supporting a huge business that disregards the oceans it shows off to its passengers.

@mfreemanf22@JasonBodenheimer I was told on a RCCL cruise that they essentially treat the sewage, separate solids (which get burned). The result is water that is used for everything except drinking and ash that is dumped on land when they are in port. Said the water is drinkable but they know no one would want to. The person that explained this said that there are laws about dumping in the waters, but what Jason said is what they used to do (and smaller ships probably still do). Hope it is truthful information!